Smart Grid LAB Hessen

Project descrip­tion
The Smart Grid LAB Hessen is being set up at the loca­tion of the Pfeffer engi­neering office in Röder­mark under the direc­tion of the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences in Darm­stadt. In the real­istic labo­ra­tory, the intel­li­gent power grid (Smart Grid) will be exam­ined holis­ti­cally from different perspec­tives. The elec­trical grid is built from resources of public networks. All energy sources and consump­tions are based on real-life models. Chal­lenging grid situ­a­tions can be simu­lated there without any risk. The project will develop various scenarios under which the Smart Grid LAB will be oper­ated. These include:

- The increase of renew­able decen­tral­ized power gener­a­tion
- A higher elec­tricity demand, e.g. due to more elec­tro­mo­bility and heat pumps
- The estab­lish­ment of prosumers with and without storage facilities

Goals
The Smart Grid LAB will be estab­lished to test active control methods in the smart grid and all required func­tion­al­i­ties under prac­tical condi­tions. The ques­tions to be answered include:

- How can the power grid be controlled in a stable way when many customers charge an elec­tric vehicle on days with low power gener­a­tion?
- How can the grid be kept stable when dynamic elements (e.g. storage) fail?
- Up to what level can dynamic grid elements compen­sate for peaks and contin­uous loads?
- What happens, if impor­tant measure­ment and control compo­nents are disrupted?
- How can hackers be countered?

Role of the House of Energy
As a think tank, the House of Energy played a key role in devel­oping the project idea for the Smart Grid LAB Hessen. During the course of the project, the House of Energy will estab­lish and moderate a scien­tific and tech­nical project advi­sory board. The advi­sory board will accom­pany the project in an advi­sory capacity and will consist of company repre­sen­ta­tives from the fields of energy supply and grid oper­a­tion, tech­nical moni­toring and certi­fi­ca­tion, personal safety and energy law.

Dura­tion
12.2020–03.2023

Financing
Total volume € 3.31 million
Funding volume € 1.57 million

Funded by
Euro­pean Regional Devel­op­ment Fund (ERDF)

Consor­tium leader
-Darm­stadt Univer­sity of Applied Sciences (FG Elec­trical Power Supply, Renew­able Ener­gies and Energy Efficiency)

Project partner
-House of Energy e. V.
-Inge­nieur­büro Pfeffer GmbH
-JEAN MÜLLER GmbH
-QGroup GmbH
-Tractebel Engi­neering GmbH